ADAM Smith believes Cherries have the quality to seal a top-half Premier League finish, but insists the squad will take the season “game by game”.

Smith was part of the Cherries side which picked up their first win of the campaign on Saturday, 2-1 at Aston Villa, having drawn with Sheffield United on the opening day.

After a flying start to the last campaign, Eddie Howe’s men slipped down to finish 14th, winning just three of their final 14 matches. But Smith believes a second top-10 finish of the club’s history in England’s elite tier is achievable this term.

Asked what the target is this season, the defender told the Daily Echo: “To get safety first we need to look at and then from there is a little bit of a bonus.

“But I think with the players that we’ve got we can finish in the top 10 for sure.

“But we don’t get carried away, we just take it game by game. I know everyone says that, but we actually do.

“I think we’ve just got to be a little bit more consistent this year and a little bit harder to beat, like we showed on Saturday.”